7
« on: December 31, 2011, 02:57:13 PM »
Although I have no knowledge of the Brunette, I do remember going to Burnetts for spares for my James Captain K7 which was fitted with a Villiers 8E engine. I rode it on the old disused Portsmouth Airport in the late 70's. I can remember them opening late after lunch with me waiting patiently outside and then waiting inside while one of the brothers went off to find some clutch corks for me (we always said that if they went upstairs then that was it.) After a long while he returned to the counter and said "Yes young man, can I help you?" I gave up after that and went to George Hodges who had Villiers spares from dealing with the old Invacars.
Things I do remember are the young bloke (40 years older than me) An Excelsior Talisman twin which had never been registered, an NVT Rambler an Easyrider and a Suzuki X7 which again hadn't been registered. There was also a Norton in there - don't remember what it was but it looked big to a young lad! There were all sorts of stories about the cellar being full of Series 1 Lambrettas which had been recovered from a ship which had sunk and that there were Broughs and other old veteran bikes stashed away. One of the Brothers ( the one who went first told me of his father who had the registration BK2 which was the second vehicle registered in Portsmouth - the Lord Mayor has BK1.
Always a frustrating time visiting the shop but what I would given to have a wander around and alas I wasn't around when the shop closed dow.